


Paralysed by Time

by NarryEm



Series: One Direction Erotica/Fluff-fest/Wangst as written by EmilyY [52]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Mild Smut, Reminiscing, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 04:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2178504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarryEm/pseuds/NarryEm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s been days, no months, since Harry and Niall broke off and Harry can’t get rid of all the memories that they share.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paralysed by Time

**Author's Note:**

> It's a shortish fic based on Taylor Swift's "All Too Well" because I just moved back to uni dorm and I'm feeling extra sentimental.

 

 

Autumn leaves are beginning to fall and the backyard is painted a pretty melange of yellow and red.  Harry looks out the window of his bedroom thinking of the last time he saw something like this.  His heart had been whole and full of love and now, it’s all gone.  And the worst thing is, he remembers it all too well.

 

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

Harry and Niall decided that it would be fun to visit Harry’s sister’s house.  Gemma and her husband of two years just had a baby and they surely could use a little break from the caretaking.  Gemma had been reluctant at first but she was easily won over by the talk of freshly made Sunday roast and somewhere with soft jazz playing in the background as opposed to the cries of a newborn.

They struggled to walk through the door at the same and squeezed inside. Gemma left after a million reminders and a kiss on each man’s cheek. Harry was personally delighted because he and Niall had been talking about the ‘grown-up’ subjects such as getting married and adopting kids.  They were halfway there with a small townhouse of their own just outside of London and the way they lived was not unlike a couple of newlyweds.  And with Niall having had babysat Theo many a time for Greg and Denise, Harry already knew that Niall was brilliant with kids.  He knew what Troy needed with each little sound the infant made and his soft lilting voice put the infant to sleep in a heartbeat.

“Seeing you with Troy reminds me just how much I wanna have babies with you,” Harry commented as Niall laid Troy in his crib.  Niall turned around with a smile and kissed Harry’s nose—the highest point he could reach without having to stand on his tippy toes.

“Then marry me,” Niall answered matter-of-factly.

“I will.  We need to go ring shopping soon.”

“Mm, should be free next Thursday and then for the weekend,” Niall said thoughtfully. Niall unwrapped the scarf from his neck and hooked it behind Harry’s neck.

“It’s a date.”

Niall smiled and used the scarf to propel Harry forwards and kiss him­­­.  They continued to kiss for a little while, forgetting everything else in the world and indulging in each other.  Harry knows that it’s so easy to get caught up in Niall because well, he is head over heels in love with the Irish man and he would give anything to spend of rest of his life with him.

They helped themselves to whatever leftovers are in the fridge and turned on the telly for some shitty night time talk show.  Nothing good was on as usual so they made out on the sofa like a couple of horny teenagers instead.

Gemma and her husband came back after midnight.  Troy had only woken up once and that was because of the nappy.  After Niall changed it and sang him back to sleep, all there was left to do was clean up the kitchen a bit and discuss their engagement ring.  Harry and Niall had known each other for more than five years and somehow, neither of them had popped the question yet.

On the drive back home, Harry turned up the radio and “Don’t Stop Believin’” came on.  They sang along loudly and Harry looked outside the window with wide eyes as the autumn leaves fell. Niall laughed and then the car halted into jerky stop as Niall slammed on the brakes. 

“Were you looking over me?” Harry asked, dubious.  “And almost ran the red, I see. Thanks for the near death experience, Ni.”

Niall pouted.  He eased the car into a smooth cruise again.  “Shut up.  I can’t help it when you’re so gorgeous.”

The windows were rolled down and in the little town street, the dim lights illuminated Niall’s hair enough to see it flap in the wind.   There was wind in Harry’s hair as well.  He’d been growing it out for a while and no doubt his mum would harass him on that the next time he and Niall visited her.

Later that night when they returned home, they went straight to bed, snuggled up in the bed.

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

“Your hair is at least two inches longer than the last time I saw you!” Anne fretted.  “Niall, dear, please do try to talk some sense through his thick skull.  He’ll look like a girl at your wedding at this rate.”

Niall laughed.  Harry knew that Niall secretly loved his longer hair.  He’d got enough proof from the way Niall would play with his hair almost absentmindedly in their alone time.  “I’ll try, Anne.  Can’t guarantee anything because he seems to have gotten his stubbornness from someone.”

“Don’t you get cheeky,” Anne chided him half-heartedly.  “Tea will be ready soon.  Robin insisted on making his special Sunday roast so may god help us all.”

Niall laughed again.  They relocate to the living room and Niall noticed that the pictures on the counter have changed again.  Anne kept the photo album in the open and she changed up the photos every once in a while.  The one in the front this time showed Harry with his straight blond hair in a twin-sized bed, buck-toothed.

“Oh Harry was the worst in the tee ball team,” Anne giggled.  “That was taken after the first game he ever played in. Nearly scored for the other team, you see.”

Harry blushed hotly.  “Mum!  I was only four or five.”

“I know dear, I know.”

 

In the end, they stayed long past dessert.  Niall and Robin discussed the latest Arsenal vs. Chelsea game whilst Anne roped Harry into helping out with the dishes.

“Careful with that,” Anne cautioned.  Harry tightened his grip on the blue and white china as he placed it in the dish washer.  “So, any plans for the wedding that we always talk about?”

Harry swallowed uneasily.  “We went to look at engagement rings last week.  He seems to love pretty much every other ring we saw on display so that was pretty unproductive.  I know that he’s the one, mum.  We don’t really need a fancy ring and a piece of paper to prove it.”

Anne patted Harry’s cheek.  “I know that, Harry, of course I do.  But we women like to dress up for special occasions and celebrate things.  And every mother dreams about the day that her child walks down the aisle to vow their eternal love for the partner.  It’s your turn now that Gemma has got married and had Troy.”

“Yeah.  I’ll see what I can do.  With Niall’s work taking off so quickly and my own business in full bloom, I don’t think we’ll even have time to properly plan this out.  Just give us some time, yeah?”

“Always.”

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

“What’s the occasion?” Harry asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

He had gone to bed alone after reading the text from Niall saying that he would be late.  Now he was woken up by his boyfriend in the middle of the night who was still wearing his suit and tie.

“Come downstairs to the kitchenette!  We gotta celebrate,” Niall answered vaguely.

Brain still muddled with sleep, Harry nodded blindly and didn’t even pause to put on actual clothes before he followed Niall down the stairs.  The night air was chilly against his nearly naked skin (he had on his boxers) so he shivered.

“Silly Harry,” Niall chided gently.  He took off his jacket and put it around Harry’s shoulders.  He buttoned it up for good measure and kissed Harry’s shoulder.  “Like I always say, you look so fit in my clothes.”

“You usually say that right before you take them off,” Harry deadpanned, light-hearted.

“Mmhmm,” Niall hummed, kissing up to Harry’s neck.

“That tickles,” Harry giggled.  “Got some major news or are you being random again?”

Niall opened the refrigerator and takes out a champagne bottle.  “Didn’t have time to put it in an ice bucket but whatever.  I got the promotion that I been working for, Haz!  And to top it off, they’re giving me the entire next week for an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii.  We can go look at the volcanoes and other shite people do there!”

Harry jumped for Niall and wrapped his arms around Niall.  Laughing, Niall rearranged their hands so they could dance around the kitchen, the refrigerator light illuminating them.   They lost track of time and after drinking a couple flutes worth of champagne, Niall started to unbutton the jacket off Harry and then lay him out on the dining table.

“Mum’ll never forgive us if she finds out we fucked on the table she bought us,” Niall noted, bringing back a bottle of olive oil.

“If my arse smells like olive oil for the next year, _I_ will never forgive you,” Harry eyed the bottle wearily.

“I’ll make sure,” Niall winked. 

It started off slow like their usual lovemaking.  It was all tender caresses and kisses until their bodies were burning up with white-hot desire and their senses buzzing like a livewire.  Harry didn’t mind bottoming for Niall and he gasped out when Niall finally enters him.  They had long gone past caring about the duration of each sex but tonight, Harry knew that Niall wanted to make it last. He was brought to the edge over and over again until all he knew and could feel was Niall, Niall, and Niall.

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

“I hate you!” Harry uttered the three words that has never even crossed his mind in the past six years.

Niall’s new position at the firm he was working at has picked up the pace alarmingly and the last five months had been hell for Harry.  Even though his own business was doing super well, he had managed to keep his own workload to a minimum and hire some desperate high schoolers who could work the basic functions. 

His boyfriend, however, could not put his responsibilities to someone else.  But Harry couldn’t honestly remember the last time they went out for a fancy dinner out or stayed in to watch romantic comedy or action films all night with a few cases of Guinness on the coffee table. 

“It’s not like I’m asking for much, is it?” Harry cried out, tears threatening to fall.  “All I need is for you to give a damn and ask to cut back on the hours.”

Niall looked down, avoiding Harry’s gaze.  “I can’t do that, Harry.  It’s important to me and the company that I give as much of my time as I can.”

“What’s more important though?” Harry’s voice cracked halfway through the sentence.  “Me or them?  You are tearing us apart, Niall, not the goddamn company.”

Niall moved to the front door again but Harry stood in his way.  His hands shook at his sides as he declared his ultimatum. “Choose now, Niall.  You walk out that door and I will be gone by the time you come back tonight.”

“I’m sorry, Harry.  I love you, you know I do, but this goes beyond us.”  Niall kissed the top of Harry’s bowed head.  The tears flowed freely down his cheeks and Harry stood there and watched Niall leave.

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

“Hey Harry?  Um, I just wanted to see if you’re doin’ alright,” Niall’s voice flowed out from Harry’s mobile speakers.  It had been weeks since he moved out of their house and into his mum’s house.  He was still looking for a flat and Anne had been so supportive that it hurt.  “I miss you, Harry.  Talk to me, please.”

Harry pressed the button to delete it.  He didn’t comprehend why he kept torturing himself like this.  He should have deleted the voice mails without bothering to listen to the flimsy excuses.  All that did was break Harry further and further each time and the honesty of Niall’s messages were cruel.

All the hopes and dreams they had of the future, they were crumpled up like a piece of paper lying on the cold hard ground.  Only if he could quit remembering it all too well.

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

Autumn came around again and as Harry drove past the garishly coloured trees, he couldn’t help but remember that time he and Niall drove back from Gemma’s place.  He was wearing an old plaid shirt that was nowhere near flattering and a pair of joggers that had seen better days.

Harry gripped the steering wheel as he remember yesterday’s events.  He had gotten a package and at first he didn’t realise what they were.  When he opened the contents he saw that they were some of his things that he had left behind with Niall.

But the box had been missing Harry’s favourite head scarf.  The scarf that Harry wore pretty much around the clock and smelled like him.  Harry himself had nothing left of Niall except for the condemning memories.

That night, he cracked open a bottle of whiskey and drank by himself.  He looked out the window to the shitty view of London.  There was a shooting star and he thought of Niall.

“I wish that I could wake up with amnesia,” he muttered.  “Wouldn’t that be a blessing.” 


End file.
